FTMP S2 E7- Kemi's Birthday Special and Radio Play discussion

This week's episode is exciting.....both as the title says and with the content that comes with it.

While we celebrate our founders birthday today, we wanted to explore what were the possible options for finding balance between undiscovered artists and popular soca artists on the local radio and online streaming platforms.

This episode in particular was an unbelievably eye opening experience as to what options are possible for the future during this COVID 19 pandemic.

Sponsors: @janberrywrites, Roger Baptiste

For the Most Part Tech Team:

The Curious One - Kemi (https://www.instagram.com/thekemster91/)
The Question Man - Adriel (https://www.instagram.com/lookitsadrii)
SMG - L.L.I. (https://www.instagram.com/lyrix_lyrically_inclined)
Writers: Louise (https://www.instagram.com/whateverlouise_) & Shannon Veev
Editor-in-chief - Eoin (https://www.instagram.com/yume.tt_)

Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/forthemostpart?fan_landing=true)

Transcript

In this weeks’ episode, we celebrate Kemi’s 30th birthday….the big 30!

Kemi has graced us with two songs. In the first segment, we hear ‘Take Me to Church’ (a cover, originally sang by Hozier) and in the second segment one of Kemi’s originals ‘Ever Wonder’.

This week our co-host is ‘Lyrix’, a Trini rapper. And together they discussed the ultra-sensitive topic of ‘No Carnival No Soca and let the other artists breathe’ in segment one, and in segment two they proposed that radio stations dial down the volume of Soca airplay from 80-90% to 60% during the Carnival season, giving other genres a chance to be heard. They approached it from three angles.

No Carnival should mean not as much Soca
No Carnival should mean no new Soca
No Carnival should mean no Soca at all

The Trini Carnival season is a time where our radio stations are bombarded with Soca music 24/7 without any acknowledgment of the other genres of music. And while Soca is a HUGE part of our culture, it’s not the only genre of music that’s available to Trini artists.

COVID19 put us in a position where Carnival 2021 could not happen, which left a lot of people wondering why some of the same rituals were kept up, mainly the 24/7 Soca. Because really, if there’s no Carnival how can we follow instructions to jump and wave and misbehave?

So while some of us were ‘lost’ without our Carnival rituals i.e the fetes and ‘going out on d road’ others breathed a sigh of relief. Not because they hate our culture but because the 24/7 Soca is a bit much. Artists of other genres most likely thought that at least now their music would get air time. But that was not the case. Because as it is now, the ratio of music played on the radio stations during this season is 80-90% Soca. So what both Kemi and Lyrics proposed is a fairer distribution of 60%(soca) to 40%(alternative/undiscovered artists).

They mentioned a hypothetical situation where they approach CAZIQ with a business proposal that would involve playing undiscovered artists only, for a fee, with the understanding being that the more ‘popular artists’ take a temporary backseat.

The mere fact that a conversation like this is happening means that change is on the horizon. So, thank you Lyrics and Kemi.

And Kemi, we all would like to wish you a HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY !!!